At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan had just assumed the post of governor of Shandong when he faced a rebellion from his fierce generals. The veteran general then showed his political skill and rejuvenated himself to stabilize the situation.
We go back to 1856, when Zeng Guofan served as the governor of Liangjiang. However, the Empress Dowager Cixi urgently sent him to Shandong to suppress bandits, and handed over his position to his apprentice Li Hongzhang**. The reason why Cixi made this arrangement was because Zeng Guofan was old at that time, and his military power was limited, so he only wanted to spend his old age in peace, and did not want to be caught in war again. And Li Hongzhang was in the prime of life and had a strong army, Cixi chose to let Zeng Guofan transfer troops and send generals, intending to borrow troops to help Li Hongzhang.
However, Zeng Guofan faced two uncontrollable generals in the process of transferring troops. First of all, he sent Li Hongzhang's Huai army Liu Mingchuan to Jining first, but was blocked by the local Chen Guorui army. Chen Guorui was a descendant of the Taiping Army, with a fiery personality, only obeying Zeng Greenqin's orders, and disdainful of others. When he saw the well-equipped foreign guns and cannons of Liu Mingchuan's army, he was jealous and decided to snatch them. So, Chen Guorui led the army to attack Liu Mingchuan's vanguard army and took away the first ammunition.
After Zeng Guofan learned about it, he rushed to Jining in person, and after seeing Liu Mingchuan and Chen Guorui, he did not mention the conflict between the two, but subtly praised the two generals. Liu Mingchuan was deeply grateful and thought that Zeng Lao was giving himself face. However, Zeng Guofan did not relax his vigilance against Chen Guorui. He spoke privately with Chen Guorui, pointing out Chen's weaknesses, including his status as a surrender to the Taiping Army and his notorious character. Under Zeng Guofan's strict persuasion, Chen Guorui felt ashamed and finally agreed to obey his orders.
However, Chen Guorui's attitude remained erratic when it came to carrying out his mission. Zeng Guofan talked to him alone again, and this time he used a trick to hand over the ** letter to be submitted to the palace, suggesting that Chen Guorui be removed from all positions. Faced with this threat, Chen Guorui finally became afraid and obeyed Zeng Guofan's orders. Zeng Guofan, with a lenient hand, skillfully resolved the contradictions between the powerful generals, and showed excellent political wisdom and the ability to deal with interpersonal relationships.